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designerguy90
Hello all! I've posted here a bit before with my last 914, but I ended up parting ways with it last fall and did not expect to be back in a 914 so soon. Unfortunately for my 968, it looks like it will need to go, but this 914 is very special to me. GeorgeRud posted a nice picture of me and the car a few weeks ago, but I figured a reintroduction of sorts for myself and my car is needed. George and Jim, please chime in if I got anything wrong in the story. Pardon the novel that follows...

So my story of how this car came to be begins with my dad, Dale Block, in 1980. In the spring of '80, he was finishing up as a senior at the University of Illinois studying engineering. His former roomate Jim Kutill had come down to visit to show my dad his recently acquired 914. My dad reacted positively to it, and though maybe he should buy one. Soon after, my dad was the owner of a 1974 914 2.0. He owned this car through the rest of his school career, and through several jobs. During his ownership, he joined Chicago region PCA, and continued to be in contact with Jim Kutill, and met his other 914 friend from PCA, George Rudawsky. I remember vividly growing up around the car, my dad taking me for rides in the car to get ice cream, or just go around and cruise. He would even let me "shift" by putting my hand under his, while rowing through the gears. This car, and my dad, are the reasons I have the "sickness" that we all enjoy.

When 1995 rolled around, my little brother was born, and the car was sold in the late summer. In the time after, my dad fondly remembered the car, and ended up regretting the sale. As time went on, he ended up purchasing an '88 911 Carrera in 2010, and owned it through the fall of 2014. Congruently with this, I graduated from college, and wanted to buy a Porsche of my own, and ending up with my 968, and eventually a 917 1.8 in September of '14. He and I reminisced about the car over the years, and I had wished that I could reacquire the car, if nothing else as a surprise to him. He had grown ill in 2014, and in the summer of 2015 he was diagnosed with amyloidosis. September of 2015 had come, and I asked with some seriousness to my dad, if he remembered who he sold his car too. A few days after I had asked, he came to me with a stack of pictures of the car the gentleman he had sold the car to sent him after he had bought it. I was told that these pictures were the only information he had of the car anymore, and knew that who he sold it to lived in Michigan somewhere. So began my quest to find the car, but I was very unsure of where to start at. Suddenly, and unexpected, my dad passed away on November 11 2015. I was a complete wreck, but in the following weeks, I knew that I had to find the car, for myself, and as a tribute to him.

So began my search again... I started simply just googling Porsche 914 2.0 Michigan, and several other variations of keywords, and eventually ended up finding a picture of the car online, with a name next to it; such luck I had finding it! It turns out that the gentleman who owned it is also a member on here, Glenn Trapp, and I eventually ended up finding his email on his PCA regions website and reached out to him. We conversed via email and he ended up pointing me in the right direction for the car. He had owned it for a while, and sold it to another Porsche guy, who in turn sold it to the cars then present owner. Glenn kindly gave me the phone number for Bob, the gentleman who owned the car. So in February of 2016 I cold called Bob, and explained my story, and said expressed my interest in purchasing the car. As it turns out, Bob had purchased the car a few weeks after I purchased my 914 in September of '14. We talked for a little while on the phone, and he told me he had no intentions of selling the car at the moment, but he game me his email and suggested we stay in contact. So I would email him every few months seeing how he was doing, expressing my intent each time and just wanting to make sure that if he did decided to sell, he would give me right of first refusal.

December of '16 rolled around and Bob emailed me, expressing his intent to want to sell the car, due to life circumstances, and downsize his car collection. We spoke again in January, and had sent me a bunch of pictures to review. The weather had been unseasonable warm, and we ended up deciding that February 18th would be the day that I would go to get the car. Well as it turns out Bob lived in Pennsylvania, which was information I knew already. What I did not know was that he lived just across the Delaware River from New Jersey, just a quick, short, 12 hour drive from where I live in Northwest Indiana. Bob and I talked a little more and agreed on a price, and the plans moved forward. I looked into a few different methods on getting the car back home, anything from getting it transported back, flying out and driving home, flying out and trailering it back, or driving out with someone and driving two cars back. Well when I crunched the numbers, I figured driving out and driving back would be the easiest on my wallet, and I could bring all the tools I might need for my journey back. So in my youthful excitement (stupidity), I managed to con a good friend from college to drive out with me and convoy back, really selling him on getting to use walkie talkies on the drive back.

On the night of February 17th, my buddy drove down from Milwaukee and we left my house at about 8pm. Well we drove for a while, slept for an hour in the middle of Ohio, got some Denny's, and then got more Denny's as we crossed into Pennsylvania at around 7am on the 18th. We ended up arriving at Bob's, just south of Bangor Pennsylvania around 11:30am. Pulling up to his separate garage, we got out of the car, shook hands, and exchanged pleasantries. Upon entering his garage, not only did I see the 914, but I saw a beautiful Austin Healey, a Morgan, a 356 C Cabriolet, and a 912 Soft Window Targa. Also in his garage was a very impressive lift and other cool automobilia. I looked over the car, and then ended up going out to lunch with Bob. We departed in convoy from Bobs around 1pm, and looked to avoid the traffic rush going into the Pocono's from New York for the weekend, so we ducked south, looking to eventually meet back up with I80 in Youngstown Ohio, where I booked reservations for the night. If everything went to plan, we would be checked into our accommodations by 8pm, after we cruised our way through middle PA. Not 20 minutes after leaving though, I stalled the car at an intersection, and proceeded to flood the engine. After pushing the car off to the side of the road, I was able to start the car after about 15 minutes of trying. We continued our trip south, looking for a gas station. After navigating down to Easton PA, and getting confused by the traffic patterns of the city, we managed to pull into a gas station and fill up. Now about an hour behind scheduled, I decided that we had to get to I80, instead of taking the slower, southern route. So we plotted our plan, and ended up heading north on a connecting freeway and meeting up with I80, eventually running into stop and go traffic for about an hour. Pulling off for a bathroom break and stretch, we got back to our journey, now about 2 hours behind. As darkness started to fall in Pennsylvania, I noticed my voltage dropping, and the needle dipping up and down. At our next fuel stop, I went to crank the car, and it wouldn't start, and so began the saga of having to jump the car every time it was shut off. We finally made it to Youngstown OH at about 11:20PM, severely behind schedule, and very tired.

Up to this point, we had dealt with large potholes, drivers that don't know how to merge, people that leave their brights on behind you, and narrowly avoiding a hulk of roadkill that would have probably destroyed the 914; as well as getting our GPS turned around and taking us the exact opposite direction of our hotel in Youngstown. We unpacked our things, went over to a restaurant and got some wings and beer. Finally, sleep. Morning came, and a hearty breakfast at Cracker Barrel got us ready for our trip through Ohio and back to Indiana. Deciding to make fuel, food and stretch stops all at once, so as not to have to jump the car so much, we made decent time compared to the day before. Eventually, we made it back into Indiana, and I just kept thinking to myself, don't stall the car now, don't do something stupid with so little distance between us and home. Around 3pm or so, we pulled into my driveway, exhausted from our epic trip, but very satisfied that it happened. As the weeks went on after I got the car home, I realized how dumb the trip truly was, but I was very confident in the car, and if it broke, I brought about half of my tools with me and other 914 supplies if I needed them.

So I debuted the car at a PCA event in March, with both Jim and George there to see the car. Over the coming months, I am going to try and get the car back to how I remember it as a kid, and preserve it as a piece of my dad's legacy. The plan after that... drive the hell out of it, enjoy it and share it with others.

Up next I have to rebuild a few parts, remove the webers from the car and put on the correct FI, and restore a few small bits. Overall though, there is only a few small items to attack and the car will be about as close to how I want it.

George's car, my dad's car, and Jim's car
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A 2 year old me in the car
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Bob and myself, the first time I saw the car in person in 22 years.
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mepstein
Congrats!

Are you taking the car back to 4 lug?
Tom_T
welcome.png .... well, Welcome Back anyhoo!

Great story too!

I just hope my son will eventually be as devoted to preserving my 914!

And get yourself one of those Li-Ion Battery Pack charger/starters for your 914 to avoid situations like your pic below - & you'll find that you'll be the helpful hit at the PCA events etc. helping others out!

IPB Image

Here's what GoWesty now offers (different than the iStart made ones that I got from them last year), & there are many others out there ....

http://www.gowesty.com/product-details.php...Special%20Deals

I've got one for each car, & have helped out dead battery contestants at our SoCal PCA Concours & vintage Trailer events on several occasions - so far none for our cars.

PS - they're smaller than carrying jumper cables, you can start 2-3 cars on a charge, & they'll power/charge your phone or laptop/tablet to boot!

Enjoy the family heirloom! driving.gif first.gif

Cheers! beerchug.gif
Tom
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Minerva's 914
Cool story! Congratulations on finding and acquiring the car.

Brady
IronHillRestorations
Great story, thanks for sharing
designerguy90
QUOTE(mepstein @ Apr 23 2017, 10:13 AM) *

Congrats!

Are you taking the car back to 4 lug?



Thank you! I do plan on taking the car back to 4 lug eventually. Right now it has just been inspect for safety, and fix some small things. I'm planning on dropping the engine memorial day weekend and putting the FI on the car.
designerguy90
QUOTE(Tom_T @ Apr 23 2017, 10:21 AM) *

welcome.png .... well, Welcome Back anyhoo!

Great story too!

I just hope my son will eventually be as devoted to preserving my 914!

And get yourself one of those Li-Ion Battery Pack charger/starters for your 914 to avoid situations like your pic below - & you'll find that you'll be the helpful hit at the PCA events etc. helping others out!

Here's what GoWesty now offers (different than the iStart made ones that I got from them last year), & there are many others out there ....

http://www.gowesty.com/product-details.php...Special%20Deals



Thanks!

I actually got one similar for Christmas, but forgot to bring it on the trip! headbang.gif

It wouldn't have mattered much anyways as we had to probably jump it about 15 times over the course of the trip.

-Alex
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